


processing error

by silkysheets



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Library, Coffee Shops, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Fluff, M/M, Tutoring, a lot of cute stuff, librarian!wonwoo, meanie, there might be angst but i don't know, visitor!mingyu
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-07-25
Packaged: 2018-12-05 08:00:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11573802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silkysheets/pseuds/silkysheets
Summary: wonwoo, a new librarian, stumbles across a cute boy who will forever change his life.





	1. desperate

**Author's Note:**

> i'm writing this as i go, so expect periodic updates! i'm also not the best writer out there, so i'm sorry. i know many of you consider meanie a dead ship, but i'm still trying to let this ship sail. enjoy!

wonwoo hit a slump. college is more expensive than he ever anticipated. he was tired of eating instant ramen almost daily and living like one of the crazy white people on extreme couponing. desperate for money, wonwoo searched high and low for a job on campus, since he was so adamant on not being broke anymore. the life of a college student was a hard one, and being broke made it an even larger challenge than it already life. why was money so important to living yet so hard to obtain? wonwoo asked himself that almost every single day, but he accepted the fate life isn’t always as sweet as honey. you have to work to get what you want.

an avid reader, wonwoo really enjoyed being in the company of books. he isn’t really a social butterfly. ordering pizzas made him nervous and seeing acquaintances outside of school was his worst nightmare. partying isn’t really his thing, as he’d much rather spend his nights curled up in a warm blanket with a novel in one hand and an americano in the other with sweet blues or mellow r&b dancing in his ears. that lifestyle was getting expensive, as he was running out of books to read and coffee isn’t the cheapest in the world either.

one night, as he was browsing the internet, he noticed that the campus library had a new job opening for a staffer position. score! he got to be around books in a quiet setting where he wouldn’t really have to interact with many people. there was also a cafe in the library, which meant employee discounts for him. an easy job with loads of benefits? it was too good to be true. wonwoo signed quickly submitted his application with an old resume that he wrote in high school as an assignment. he slept well that night knowing that maybe, just maybe, life would work in his favor and he would get the job.

he got a call back, and he went in and did the interview. he was shaking the entire time, but his half-assed answers somehow got him the job. he was set to work the following monday, and life couldn’t get any sweeter. he was so ready to make some money, and maybe college wouldn’t be as bad as it seems to be. or so he thought.


	2. a fateful encounter

the first day on the job is always the worst. learning the routines and the odd kinks of the library gave him headache after headache. how was wonwoo supposed to remember that nonfiction books were downstairs except for the ones written by classical philosophers pre-300 bc? the library would take some getting used to, but other than that, the job was pretty nice. not many people bothered him and he had a lot of free time, since he was diligent and did his work quickly. he would just sit by the counter and watch people come and go, from the casual readers to stressed students cramming for exams. he was stressed himself, but procrastination was not one of his vices. thank the heavens.

week two came around and he was getting bored of sorting and filing. it was monotonous and he was tired from walking around for hours at a time. then, the manager called him up. was he in trouble? he was a diligent, obedient, willing to work, — “i want you to help with checkouts and returns. i’ll show you how it’s done.” oh thank god. it was finally a change in scenery and maybe he would have even more free time to sit around and do absolutely… nothing.

working checkouts was actually pretty simple. just swipe their student id, scan the books, tell them if they’re missing any books, and put them in the bin for sorting. not many people actually borrowed books from the library. for most people, the library was just an escape from reality or a quiet study hall for stressed out crammers. the internet had most of the resources anyways. a lot of his time was just spent on his phone, scrolling through twitter. he had a pretty popular account for lame memes, dad jokes, video games, and the occasional selfie. he had fans on his meme account that thought he was attractive, but in real life, he was really just another nobody.

still getting used to the checkout computer’s system, wonwoo would sometimes have trouble sorting the books on the computer screen and would be slow and get flustered whenever he would mess up the algorithms or take a little longer than expected to do the simplest tasks, but no matter. it’s not like anyone particularly interesting was checking out books anyways.

oh how he was so wrong. while sorting through the returned books, he noticed a tall figure looming above him. he had a soft smile, and soft features, much like an eager puppy waiting to be adopted. he dressed well and his tanned skin looked as smooth as butter. something about his appearance was so sweet and endearing. he was quite… dare he say it… _cute?_

 _what is this feeling?_ wonwoo had never experienced attraction to another male. he was awkward around girls and he thought it was because they were just too intimidating for him. now that he has thought about, he was never really particularly attracted to girls as well. but he dismissed the thought and scanned the boy’s card and began checking out his books. “mingyu? i’ve never seen you around. is it your first time here? you seem awfully interested in physics if you have five books about velocity.” small talk was hard for wonwoo, but he did what he had to do to keep it from being awkward.

“ah no, it’s for my physics class,” the boy said with an earnest smile. “i’m here quite often, i just sit in the back where no one else sits for some peace and quiet. i see you walking around all the time, sorting through books and stuff. looks like you’re having the time of your life!” he let out a soft chuckle. his deep vocal tone was so attractive, and wonwoo found his canine tooth so cute when he laughed.

 _a regular visitor? that’s a boy? that i find oddly attractive?_ this library job was going to be hell.


	3. calculus?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for being a poor writer so far, this is my first piece so please be nice to me!

it’s been a few days since wonwoo met mingyu, and he’s been noticing him around the library a lot,  a little more than he would like. every time he would pass by while sorting the books, mingyu would always look up and say, “hi wonwoo! working hard, i see!” with his stupidly sweet grin and let out a small chuckle. wonwoo would nod back, smile, and continue working.  _ why did that boy have to be so cute? _ this was a case for the fbi!

working was tough. finals season was coming up and more and more students were coming in and out, doing last minute cramming and typing up paper after paper. wonwoo was stuck between sorting the seemingly endless stacks of books and helping students check out their books. despite the library’s heavy traffic, mingyu was always situated in his usual spot in the back of the library. no matter how busy or stressed he was, he was always so glad to see his favorite worker wonwoo and say hello and now even occasionally ask him how his day was. for some reason, wonwoo’s heart still flutters every time mingyu calls him over or gives him words of encouragement. it’s been weeks yet that boy still makes wonwoo excited.

as wonwoo was rushing to sort through the sociology books, the familiar voice calls him. “good morning wonwoo!” there was something different about his voice today. it was still saccharine sweet and full of sanguine, but there was some a hint of urgency in his voice. “can i ask you something?”

wonwoo stopped in his tracks.  _ a question? this is further than they’ve ever gone!  _ “yeah, what’s the problem?” he couldn’t help but shake a little as he asked the question. this is the first boy he’s ever felt attraction to!

“are you good at calculus?”  _ is this boy seriously asking him for help in math?  _ wonwoo could handle math, but he much preferred english. after all, he worked in the library

“i’m not the best, but i’m alright. i took it last year, but i think i can offer help,” wonwoo replied, confused by his question. “i can take a derivative or two, but don’t ask me how to find the volume of rotating objects, that’s foreign to me.”

“let’s be real here, i didn’t call you over to ask you about calculus. based on the time i spend in the library, you’d expect me to be pretty good at math, and i don’t want to float my own boat, but i am. i really just needed an excuse to talk to you and tell you that i want to get to know you better. would you like to get coffee with me tomorrow morning at nine before you work? the cafe here would be fine.”  _ oh my god? was wonwoo just asked on a coffee date by mingyu himself? he must be dreaming. _

“that would be fine, i’m free. are you sure you don’t want to study? finals are coming up!” wonwoo really just wanted an excuse to get himself together and prepare to get to know this boy better. coffee with another man felt a little weird, but something in him knew that it was what he wanted and that it was just right. “nevermind, i’ll see you at nine.” 

he walked away with the largest grin on his face. things were  _ finally  _ falling into place for him, and his shot with mingyu seemed oh so clear.


End file.
